This website is a wonderful resource and is helping me work on the application with my husband. He was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder 19 years ago and while managed relatively well with drugs in the first decade or so, he has been increasingly unable to work due to added issues of a sleep disorder, and an inability to even get out of bed some days, or manage paranoia or anger - this has prevented any full time employment for 5 years and while he has managed to work part time here and there his mental state and ability to work has declined considerably over the past 2 years. He managed to work part time for three months last summer but things really got bad after that and while he tried to work one day last month, it was not a good experience and he could not go back. Despite having a very large health care team of physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, sleep doctor, neurologist (for a benign tremor in is hand) and now a naturopathic doctor who specializes in mental health - his mental health and quality of life has not improved enough to even work for one day.
I will be helping him with the descriptions of how his disability prevents him from functioning both mentally and physically on a daily basis but mental health, and depression especially, seems to be seen as “treatable” and I wonder if these applications are as successful as the medical ones?
If you have any additional insight to offer on applications specifically related to mental health, it would be much appreciated.
I recommend you order a free copy of our Guide: The CPP Disability Approval Blueprint. It has all my best tips and recommendations. I wrote it specifically for someone in your situation who wants to apply for CPP disability or appeal a claim denial. You can download a PDF copy or you can call our office and we will mail a paperback version to you at no cost.
If you get the mailed copy you will also get our monthly newsletter that will allow you to access our free monthly webinars on DIY topics, including how to prepare your own CPP disability application.
David Brannen
Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal
The response posted above is based on the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliabile manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with a lawyer, fully explain your situation, and allow the lawyer enough time to research the applicable law and facts required to give an adequate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full one-on-one discussion with a lawyer should be done before taking any any action. The information posted on this forum is available to the viewing public and is not intended to create a lawyer client relationship with any person. If you want one-on-one advice, please click here to request a free consultation or call toll free 1-877-282-5188 to speak with a member with our disability claim support team.
I paid for and sent complete medical records for the past 6 years (I included everything) I also had my spouse do an activity tracker each day for a few months-you can find one online. He gave a fatigue and pain score between 1-10 for each hour and listed his activities to show how he goes through each day. It was 100% accurate-if he went to a movie it was included -so good as well as bad.
You can also get a list of all medications from the pharmacy and side affects if applicable. Also I included peer reviewed articles on cognition and his condition for reference.
You want to include the past medical and work history to show that he is progressively getting worse and that he has been fully compliant with all treatment. Focus on fatigue, suicidal thoughts, and any other issues that make work not feasible. If his income has gradually declined you can go to service canada and print off his cpp contributions to prove his ongoing decline in working,
Lori thank you so much for all of this - we have been tracking his sleep, energy and anger levels so while not scientific, I will include it and the suggestion about CPP contributions is excellent, thank you. He had to move from a complex IT job to a less taxing retail position to try and work but that is proving more and more difficult. Thank you so much.
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